HR: 0800h
AN: AE31A-0152    [Abstracts]
TI: Characteristics of Sprites in Relation to Characteristics of Lightning Determined by the OK Lightning Mapping Array and the NLDN
AU: * Musfeldt, A
EM: musfeldt@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, ISR-2, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Beasley, W H
EM: whb@ou.edu
AF: School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 United States
AU: Eack, K B
EM: keack@nmt.edu
AF: Department of Physics, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM 87801 United States
AU: Roussel-Dupre, R A
EM: rroussel-dupre@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, EES-2, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Susczynsky, D M
EM: dsusczynsky@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, ISR-2, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Pongratz, M B
EM: mpongratz@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, ISR-2, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: MacGorman, D R
EM: don.macgorman@noaa.gov
AF: NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory, 1313 Halley Circle, Norman, OK 73069 United States
AB: During TELEX II in May and June of 2004, we launched balloon-borne systems to observe X-rays and electric-field changes (ΔE) in storms in central Oklahoma and deployed ground-based low-light cameras in Clayton, NM to observe TLE that occurred over the storms. Our goal was to obtain contemporaneous observations of E, ΔE, X-rays, and TLE for storms within the purview of the Oklahoma Lightning-Mapping Array (OKLMA). Our observations were motivated by the work of Roussel-Dupre and Gurevich (1996) on runaway breakdown and upward propagating discharges, which suggested that runaway breakdown is the driving mechanism for TLE and that the discharges would be sources of observable RF and γ or x-ray emissions. Indeed, they suggested that confirmation could be attained by measuring optical, γ /X-ray, and RF emissions (ΔE) simultaneously. On three occasions we launched instruments to record ΔE and X-rays in storms and we obtained observations of Sprites on 5 days during the program. Unfortunately, both Clayton, NM and Fort Collins were overcast on days when we obtained ΔE/X-ray soundings. However, we did obtain contemporaneous observations of Sprites, discharges mapped by the OKLMA, and NLDN CG flash locations. We compare the characteristics of lightning discharges associated with observed Sprites and those not associated with observed Sprites, in the context of runaway hypotheses.
DE: 3324 Lightning
DE: 3394 Instruments and techniques
DE: 3304 Atmospheric electricity
DE: 0342 Middle atmosphere--energy deposition
DE: 0600 ELECTROMAGNETICS
SC: Atmospheric and Space Electricity [AE]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting